Wood bending machine and nailing table



Dec. 25, 1951 7 g, ss 2,579,800

WOOD BENDING MACHINE AND NAILING TABLE Filed May 18, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 IN V ENT 0R.

m Clarence C Cress BY fiwwv waamxv A TTORNEYS 1951 c. c. CRESS WOOD BENDING MACHINE AND NAILING TABLE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed May 18, 1949 W is.

JNVENTOR. Clarence C" Cress BY /Qfi26can4,dlkumu Fi all lluhlii ATTURNEXS Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WOOD BENDING MACHINE AND NAILIN G TABLE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined wood bending machine and nailing table.

In the manufacture of hogsheads such as are commonly used in shipping tobacco and other commodities, it becomes necessary to form an annular wooden strip and to accurately secure same in concentric relation against the flat end disc or head of the hogshead, said strip being spaced radially inwardly from the marginal edge of the end disc.

Heretofore it has been customary to bend the wooden strips into annular form, then to remove them from the bending machine and nail them to their respective hogshead end discs. This has been attended with considerable difficulty in the past, due first to the difiiculty of accurately forming the annular strips and then of maintaining the formed strips in accurate concentric relation with their respective discs while the two are nailed together. Also, the carrying out of these successive steps has required an uneconomical amount of time.

The present invention has been conceived and developed with the foregoing considerations in mind, and accordingly has for its primary object to provide a machine for accurately bending wooden strips into annular shape, for maintaining them in such shape, and for properly concentrically positioning the end discs thereagainst while said discs and strips are nailed together prior to removal of the strips from the machine. By the use of such a machine, I am able to greatly expedite the accurate forming and assembling of the aforementioned hogshead parts, and to eliminate much of the wastage that has heretofore been prevalent due to spoilage of parts and innacurate assembling.

Further incidental objects are: to provide a novel clamping mechanism for securing the opposite ends of the wooden strips in bent formation on the machine while the respective discs are secured thereto; and, to provide a novel arrangement for positioning the several parts of the machine in accurate concentric relation to each other and to the work pieces.

In order to attain the foregoing primary object of the invention, I provide a table having a profile ring disposed on the top thereof so that wooden strips may be supported on said top and bent around said ring, the upper edge of the ring being adapted to support a flat end disc and means being provided for centering said disc relative to the bent strip of wood. A radial sweep arm carries a bending roller or element in a concentric path around the ring to form the wooden strip therearound, the arm being swingably connected to the table at a location below the upper edge of the profile ring to avoid interference with the end discs thereon. Similarly I provide independently operable clamping means positioned below the upper edge of the profile ring for securing the respective ends of the Wooden strips against the ring.

In this application I show and describe only the preferred embodiment of my invention, simply by way of illustration of the practice thereof, as by law required. However I recognize that my invention is capable of other and dilferent embodiments and that the several details thereof may be modified in various ways, all without departing from my said invention. Accordingly. the drawings and description herein are to be considered as merely illustrative and not as exclusive.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a machine in accordance with my invention, showing in broken lines a wooden strip in the process of being bent into annular form;

Figure 2, a detail perspective view on an enlarged scale, showing the arrangement of the forming roller on the sweep arm;

Figure 3, a cross-section on the line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4, an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the arrangement of the clamping cams of the invention; and

Figure 5, an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the manner in which the sweep arm of the preferred embodiment is mounted for rotary movement about the central support or standard of the machine.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, the reference character I therein designates a metal base plate to which is secured, by welding or otherwise, an upright standard 2 of cylindrical exterior conformation. Such a standard 2 may conveniently comprise a length of commercially available metal pipe or tubing and will preferably be reinforced in its: connection to the base I, as by a plurality of radial webs 3 welded to both members I and 2.

Fixedly supported on the upper end of the standard 2 is a circular fiat table top 4 which is concentric with the standard 2 and is welded thereto in the illustrated embodiment. Such a tabl top may comprise a relatively heavy metal plate and is preferably braced against downward deflection or bending by reinforcing gussets G extending between the lower surface of said table top and the standard 2.

A circular or annular profile ring 5 is secured flush against the upper flat surface of the table top 4, as by usual bolts 6, in concentric relation with the top 4 and standard 2, the ring 5 being of smaller diameter than the table top So that the portion of the top A surrounding said ring may function as a support for the wooden strips W which are formed or bent around the ring, as in Figure 1.

This profile ring 5 preferably comprises a center disc of metal i to reinforce it against radial stresses, the disc E being secured Within the ring in the instant embodiment by metal blocks or pads 8 and 9 which are Welded to both the disc I and the inner periphery of the ring 5. Said blocks or pads are arranged to liewholly within the space between the upper and lower axial edges of'the ring 5, as in Figure 1.

The metal blocks 8, which are secured to the lower surface or face of the disc 1, are preferably of sufiicient thickness to extend between the disc I and the table top 4 to function as spacers, so that the attaching bolts 6 for the ring 5 may be disposed through the disc I and the respective spacer blocks 8 and drawn tight without deflecting the disc toward the table top.

In order to accurately center the table top 4, ring 5 and standard 2 relative to each other, it is desirable to provide a center guide post It which projects axially upwardly from the standard 2, preferably being fixed to a metal plate II secured in said post, to project through center holes in the table top 4 and disc I respectively. The upper end of this guide post may be threaded to receive a fastening nut I2. Also, such a guide post may serve as the centering means for the end discs which are placed on the ring 5. To this end, the end post in the illustrated embodiment is formed with an axially extending pilot hole I3 in its upper end to receive a center projection, such as a nail, disposed at the center of the wooden end disc, to accurately concentrically position same relative to an annular wooden strip formed around the ring 5. i

In order to secure the ends of the wooden strips W against the external periphery of the profile ring 5, I provide suitable clamp means arranged for operative movement between the planes of the upper and lower edges of the ring, 5 so as not to interfere with the seating of the end discs on the ring 5. 1

The preferred form of such clamp means, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, comprises a pair of similar cams or eccentric discs I4 and I5 respectively which are rotatable about axes I4 and i5 for movement toward and away from the adjacent periphery of the ring 5. Suitable operating levers or handles It may be removably disposed in horizontal bores in these cams I4 and I5 to rotate them to the desired positions.

It is desirable to relieve or cut away the outer face or periphery of the ring 5, as at I? in Figure 4, to leave shoulders I8-I8 at locations on the ring 5 radially opposite to the respective cam shafts I l and I5. With this arrangement, when either of the cams is swung into clamping engagement with the wooden strip or work piece W, as in Figure l, the resultant compression of the work piece causes the shoulder It ,to be pressed slightly thereinto to prevent endwise or circumferential movement of the work piece. 7

A sweep arm I9 journalled forrotation about the standard 2 and comprising an operating handle 2|, provides the preferred means for supporting and guiding the bending roller concentrically around the profile ring 5, the radially V for rotation on a vertical shaft 24 between the handle 2i and a bearing bracket 25 secured thereto.

In order to adapt the machine for use with wooden strips W of varying thicknesses and to obtain the optimum degree of bending pressure on these strips I provide a radially adjustable connection between the sweep arm I9 and-the handle 2i which carries the roller 20.

To this end, the sweep arm terminates at its free end in a horizontal plate 26 which is fixedly secured thereto as shown, and the operating handle 2I is secured to said plate 25 by bolts 21 which when loosened may slide in slots 21' in the operating handle (see Figure 3) and bolts 28 which when loosened may slide in slots.28' in the plate 26.

The simultaneous loosening of these bolts will obviously permit sliding of the operating handle 2! to position the roller 28 at the desired distance from the ring 5, whereupon tightening of ,said

- bolts will serve to maintain the roller 25 at the desired position of adjustment.

In'the operation of the invention, the wooden strips W, which will usually be of hard wood, are rendered pliable as by steaming or other known means just prior to their insertion in the machine. I

With the sweep arm disposed. to place the roller 29 adjacent one of the clamp cams I5, one end of the wooden strip is placed between the cam l 5 and ring 5 and secured. in place by rotary movement of the cam to the position indicated in Figure 1. Following this, the sweep arm is manually actuated to swing the roller 29 around the ring 5 and bend the wooden strip therearound 'until same is formed into a ring having its free end disposed between the cam M and the profile ring 5, at which time appropriate rotary movement of the cam I4 will clamp the said free end against the ring 5.

With the wooden strip W thus bent and secured in annular formation by the joint action of the ring 5 and cams I4 and i5, a wooden hogshead end or end disc may be placed across the top edge of the ring 5 and the work piece W, with the central projection of said end disc received in the pilot hole it of the post It to accurately concentrically position the end disc relative to the annular work piece. Then, nails may be driven through the end disc into the work piece W to secure same flush against the lower face of the end disc.

At the completion of the nailing operation, the end disc and its attached wooden ring or annulus may be removed upwardly from the table top 4 and ring 5 for assembly with other hogshead parts to form a complete hogshead.

It will be apparent that the novel arrangement of the sweep arm It in a manner to avoid any movement or projection of same across or near the ring 5, prevents any interference with the. work pieces during the operation of theinven tion, permitting the application and centering of the end disc and removal of the assembled end disc and annular ring without interference. The clamp cams l4 and I5 and the roller 20 V are positioned for movement below the upper edge of the ring 5 to further avoid interference with the end discs placed on said ring.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A combined bending machine and nailing table comprising a fiat circular table top and a supporting cylindrical standard therebeneath, a profile ring fixed on the upper face of said table top concentrically thereto, in combination with a sweep arm journalled about said standard beneath said table top, a bending roller rotatably carried by said sweep arm for concentric movement relative to and in the plane of said profile ring to bend wooden strips therearound, independently operable clamping means for securing the ends of said strips against the external periphery 'of said profile ring, the upper axially presented edge of said ring lying in a plane parallel to said table top to support a disc-like work piece thereabove, and centering means concentrically disposed within said profile ring below the level of the upper edge thereof to cooperate with centering means carried by said disc-like work pieces and position same concentrically relativeto said wooden strips after the bending thereof to annular form.

2. A combined bending machine and nailing 6 table comprising a table having a flat top, a profile ring disposed thereon whereby wooden strips may be supported on the upper surface of said table and bent around said ring, together 1 with independently operable clamping means for securing the respective ends of said strips against said ring, the upper edge of said ring being adapted to support a fiat end disc above said wooden strip, and means below the level of the upper edge of said profile ring for centering said disc relative to said strip, in combination with a forming roller, and means swingable about an axis concentric to and below the upper edge of said ring for moving said forming roller concentrically around said ring and bending said wooden strips therearound, said swingable means, said roller and said clamping means being disposed in planes below the upper edge of said profile ring to avoid interference with the placing of said end disc on said edge.

CLARENCE C. CRESS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 597,463 Gibson Jan, 18, 1898 755,588 Vanderlinden Mar. 22, 1904 

